Mission

Our mission is to collect, preserve, interpret and exhibit artifacts and archives relating to the history of Japanese Canadians from the 1870s through the present, and to communicate to all the Japanese Canadian experience and contribution as an integral part of Canada's heritage and multicultural society.

Current exhibition

Tenugui

Design Excellence in Japanese Daily Life

January 13 – March 24, 2012

TENUGUI are towels made of bleached cotton, approximately 34 cm wide and 90 cm in length. The word literally means “a hand-wiping cloth.” Tenugui were used for a remarkable number of purposes not only for wiping and cleaning, but also for wrapping and wearing, and even as advertising tools.To meet the various needs of special occasions throughout the four seasons and the individual personalities of each owner, the Japanese developed a wide range of designs on the surface of the cloth. Some are elaborate while others are transparently simple. With over two hundred towels on display, this colourful exhibition demonstrates the endless creativity in Tenugui.Co-presented by The Japan Foundation. Presented in association with Kamawanu Co. Ltd., Tokyo.Sponsored by Kikori Japanese Antiques, The Deux Mille Foundation, and Listel Hotel.Media sponsor: Vancouver Shinpo

Public ProgramsFree admission. Everyone is welcome.

Friday, January 13, 11am-5pmTenugui sale

Saturday, January 14, 2pmTalk by Mr. Kazuhiro Kato of Kamawanu Company

Changing Tides Photo Exhibit and Silent Auction

presented by the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Alumni Association of BC

January 14th to March 10th

The Changing Tides photo exhibit at the National Nikkei Museum & Heritage Centre in Burnaby showcases the efforts of a group of former teachers who worked in Japan and who are now working to raise awareness and funds following the devastating disasters of March 2011. The former teachers participated in the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program and lived in towns, villages and cities across Japan working in public schools and city halls. Some of these places included areas that were struck by the disasters.

Offsite Exhibit

A Century of Community Spirit – Discover the important role played by the Vancouver Japanese Language School in the early days of Vancouver. First opened in 1906, the school was an important educational and cultural centre for the Powell Street community.

Powell Street was the pre-war business centre of the Japanese community in Vancouver. The street was vibrant, busy and filled with Japanese people – in the busy open vegetable markets, the regular baseball games played by the Asahi ball team in Oppenheimer Park, the taxi company, the Japanese and English language newspapers, cafés, boarding houses, traditional bath houses, drug stores, department stores, and special Japanese food businesses, making tofu or manju. We invite you to discover the many monogatari (tales) of Powell Street.

Located at the Vancouver Japanese Language School at 487 Alexander Street, Vancouver

Supported by Vancouver125, BC Arts Council, Vancouver Foundation, National Association of Japanese Canadians